[Warfinator]

Did you try a different network? A good attempt might be to enable the hotspot over 4G in your Android phone and try to connect to that in the m6 (provided you have Android/Hotspot capabilities)

Thanks, Ill try using my phones hotspot. If it works there I guess it's my router, I already contacted my ISP and they said they would give me a new one.

Update: Works fine using my hotspot on my phone. Weird that it only drops on the direct connection to my router while my other devices on the same network don't.

 

[antdroid]

I just got this little unit today. It's a great size and weight, especially compared to my Pioneer XDP-300R which I find amazing but a bit bulky, and the Hidizs AP80 which I think is a great little unit that's well built but just a little too small for me.

This one is a good size, though still a little on the small size, but I can live with that. Not having a wheel for volume control is a little disappointing but not the end of the world either (all of the last DAPs I've actually purchased (not review units) have had volume knobs/wheels and I love that!

All of that aside, I like the portability and pocketability of this unit a lot. It has enough power for my IEMs but lacks power for my over-ears. My Focal Elex and Elegia had enough power for volume output, but was missing some of the dynamics I am used to when powered by a stronger amp. The XDP-300R, for example, using balanced, works fine for them.

But haven't missed a beat with using them with any of my IEMs so far, so that's really nice. Also LDAC and bluetooth work relatively well with my WH-H900N headphones.

The lack of system RAM is a little frustrating though. Spotify lags and while not the end of the world, when I put it side-by-side with the XDP-300R, which is 3+ years old and runs on Android 5.1, the M6 barely chugs along. I can be in a song playing while the M6 is still loading the app. Everything takes a noticeable amount of time (many seconds) longer to perform when using Spotify and even the stock app compared to the XDP-300R. The 300R has 2GB RAM and uses a full blown mobile processor (albeit quite old now), and not a smartwatch CPU and a minuscule amount of RAM that the M6 has. The other issue I found with RAM and CPU is the LDAC performance is pretty terrible. It runs alright when using the lower quality LDAC setting (stream preferred), but buffers and distorts and lags when using the higher quality LDAC settings. It's basically unusable with the highest quality LDAC setting.

As far as increasing performance, is there anything that we could do improve it?

Would love to try to mod/root this device but can't seem to get unlocked bootloader to work (fastboot oem unlock), and not sure if that can even be unlocked yet.

 

[dharmasteve]

I just got this little unit today. It's a great size and weight, especially compared to my Pioneer XDP-300R which I find amazing but a bit bulky, and the Hidizs AP80 which I think is a great little unit that's well built but just a little too small for me.

This one is a good size, though still a little on the small size, but I can live with that. Not having a wheel for volume control is a little disappointing but not the end of the world either (all of the last DAPs I've actually purchased (not review units) have had volume knobs/wheels and I love that!

All of that aside, I like the portability and pocketability of this unit a lot. It has enough power for my IEMs but lacks power for my over-ears. My Focal Elex and Elegia had enough power for volume output, but was missing some of the dynamics I am used to when powered by a stronger amp. The XDP-300R, for example, using balanced, works fine for them.

But haven't missed a beat with using them with any of my IEMs so far, so that's really nice. Also LDAC and bluetooth work relatively well with my WH-H900N headphones.

The lack of system RAM is a little frustrating though. Spotify lags and while not the end of the world, when I put it side-by-side with the XDP-300R, which is 3+ years old and runs on Android 5.1, the M6 barely chugs along. I can be in a song playing while the M6 is still loading the app. Everything takes a noticeable amount of time (many seconds) longer to perform when using Spotify and even the stock app compared to the XDP-300R. The 300R has 2GB RAM and uses a full blown mobile processor (albeit quite old now), and not a smartwatch CPU and a minuscule amount of RAM that the M6 has. The other issue I found with RAM and CPU is the LDAC performance is pretty terrible. It runs alright when using the lower quality LDAC setting (stream preferred), but buffers and distorts and lags when using the higher quality LDAC settings. It's basically unusable with the highest quality LDAC setting.

As far as increasing performance, is there anything that we could do improve it?

Would love to try to mod/root this device but can't seem to get unlocked bootloader to work (fastboot oem unlock), and not sure if that can even be unlocked yet.

I do think the M6 takes a little patience. Some will find it a bit frustrating. Yep LDAC works at the lower rates but sounds really good. I authentically cannot tell the difference from wired (especially with the FiiO BTR3). I use this DAP more than any other DAP I've owned, it fires my Tin Audio T3s perfectly. I use it to control a BluDento APTX-HD receiver to my HiFi and to control an Arcam AirDac unit to play Spotify to my main HiFi (I have to run a small app on my phone called HiFy for Spotify which links phone and M6 and direct DLNA capability of the AirDac) and that plays Spotify at DLNA wireless kbps rates and even Spotify's 320 kbps Oggs sound stunning that way. I love the form factor. I put it in a shirt pocket or a jean jacket pocket as the headphone socket is on top. I love this unit. I've had it 3 months and know it intimately and it's great. FiiO though could be more helpful to certain requests from Headfiers though. I like your enthusiastic reviews. This little DAP has grown on me and is my main source of music enjoyment.

 

[FluffyBunnyFeet]

Re: LDAC. I found to perform sweetly in the highest quality mode - ONLY if I turned wi-fi off on the M6. Streaming to Sony WH-1000XM3. Aptx HD had no such trouble and sounds pretty damn good, so thats what i've stuck with.

 

[dharmasteve]

Re: LDAC. I found to perform sweetly in the highest quality mode - ONLY if I turned wi-fi off on the M6. Streaming to Sony WH-1000XM3. Aptx HD had no such trouble and sounds pretty damn good, so thats what i've stuck with.

Yep you are right LDAC works at best rates with WiFi off. And that's good for all my locally stored files. Of course using Spotify in streaming mode, through WiFi, means that this has to be done in connection first mode, which still sounds exceptional. But simply connecting one's IEMs/Headphones to the M6's headphone socket is so good. This little DAP, with all it's minor nuisances, has so many useful features that it's definitely my favourite DAP, particularly it's form factor which is perfect for me. FiiO though are surely letting customers and headfiers down by not having an audiobook, podcast or music casting software capability. That is not the most difficult software problem to solve themselves or to whitelist resource friendly software. Not very good motivation @FiiO at all.

 

[Lillie]

Well I’ve ordered the m6 should be delivered in a few days and can’t wait to try it out!

 

[Papa253]

I have a dual band Wifi router and the connection is rock solid on the 2.4Ghz band. I haven't tried connecting to the 5Ghz band .. which one are you trying to connect to? Also Spotify (except app lag) works great.

You cant connect to 5ghz only 2.4ghz.

 

[greenflash]

The lack of system RAM is a little frustrating though. Spotify lags and while not the end of the world, when I put it side-by-side with the XDP-300R, which is 3+ years old and runs on Android 5.1, the M6 barely chugs along. I can be in a song playing while the M6 is still loading the app. Everything takes a noticeable amount of time (many seconds) longer to perform when using Spotify and even the stock app compared to the XDP-300R. The 300R has 2GB RAM and uses a full blown mobile processor (albeit quite old now), and not a smartwatch CPU and a minuscule amount of RAM that the M6 has. The other issue I found with RAM and CPU is the LDAC performance is pretty terrible. It runs alright when using the lower quality LDAC setting (stream preferred), but buffers and distorts and lags when using the higher quality LDAC settings. It's basically unusable with the highest quality LDAC setting.

As far as increasing performance, is there anything that we could do improve it?

Would love to try to mod/root this device but can't seem to get unlocked bootloader to work (fastboot oem unlock), and not sure if that can even be unlocked yet.

Yeah, it's a big laggy, true, I consider it an old phone I love and that cost me not a lot a money

Question: do you have ES File Explorer installed? I don't have any statistics to back this up, but I *feel* that without ES File Explorer Spotify (and the system is general) is more speedy. I installed yesterday for a test I wanted to do and Spotify was lagging again. Today I uninstalled and I feel it's better. Clearing up the cache from time to time helps too. I think ES File Explorer (at least the free version) uses up quite a bit of memory and stays around checking things (in my phone I know it was aware of things uninstalled etc).

 

[antdroid]

Yeah, it's a big laggy, true, I consider it an old phone I love and that cost me not a lot a money

Question: do you have ES File Explorer installed? I don't have any statistics to back this up, but I *feel* that without ES File Explorer Spotify (and the system is general) is more speedy. I installed yesterday for a test I wanted to do and Spotify was lagging again. Today I uninstalled and I feel it's better. Clearing up the cache from time to time helps too. I think ES File Explorer (at least the free version) uses up quite a bit of memory and stays around checking things (in my phone I know it was aware of things uninstalled etc).

No, I just have Spotify installed. I uninstalled everything else since I canceled my Tidal account yesterday.

 

[AndySocial]

TuneIn app does support podcasts though. It's not my go-to choice but it does a decent job. There's nothing for audiobooks though.

Does the Tunein app support offline podcasts? In my potential use case, I would have the M6 in my house, on WiFi, downloading podcasts, but then I'd be in my car or out in the world, away from the internet, to listen to my podcasts and music. If that's an option, I'm totally looking at the M6 for my birthday.

 

[FiiO]

Re: LDAC. I found to perform sweetly in the highest quality mode - ONLY if I turned wi-fi off on the M6. Streaming to Sony WH-1000XM3. Aptx HD had no such trouble and sounds pretty damn good, so thats what i've stuck with.

Dear friend,

If selecting "LDAC sound quality first", and at the same time, you are listenning the streaming music on M9 after connecting with WiFi, then the CPU usage will be a little higher, which will cause a certain degree of intermittent on the output. We are afraid that it could not improved by software.
So it is suggested to select “LDAC connection first” on M9 if you want to enjoy the streaming music.

Best regards

 

[pandorum]

Does the Tunein app support offline podcasts? In my potential use case, I would have the M6 in my house, on WiFi, downloading podcasts, but then I'd be in my car or out in the world, away from the internet, to listen to my podcasts and music. If that's an option, I'm totally looking at the M6 for my birthday.

It does support offline podcasts. However the app does not give you an option to change the storage location which means you're limited to the total 2Gb of internal storage. Stupid, but works for me for know. Still hoping we'd get a proper podcast app though.

 

[antdroid]

Dear friend,

If selecting "LDAC sound quality first", and at the same time, you are listenning the streaming music on M9 after connecting with WiFi, then the CPU usage will be a little higher, which will cause a certain degree of intermittent on the output. We are afraid that it could not improved by software.
So it is suggested to select “LDAC connection first” on M9 if you want to enjoy the streaming music.

Best regards

I figured this would be an issue for this device. That's too bad, but I can live with the lower LDAC setting.

I didn't realize this device didn't support dual-band Wifi, so no 5GHz connection. Unfortunately for me the guest wifi is on that band and not 2.4Ghz, so I guess I'll be tethering to my phone instead. :\

 

[greenflash]

RE Whitelisting:

Been fiddling about with some APKs and I can tell that FiiO's right in being .. careful in the whitelisting. Some apps are quite complex and might really bring the performance down (I even have that feeling about ES File Explorer, you know).
VLC is the one which worked quite fine so far, even chromecast did work (not perfectly; the very chromecast implementation is sometimes problematic). It's nice to be able to pick up my files from a NAS/sAmbA share. Hey even the video bit worked (streamed over to a TV with chromecast). But it was choppy if you messed around. This kind of thing will surely work perfectly in the M11, I start to see a market for that device (not only music but also video streaming with HQ). VLC being a free app, helps. BubbleUPNP and YTVanced did work fine in short tests, but again - I would probably not mess much with video, it can be power consuming. BubbleUPNP without a license ain't much of a contender so did not much.

USB Audio Player Pro is a more complex app (with some price) but it seems to do it all, so I agree with others that it would be a nice whitelist if it can run acceptably, no doubt.

Finally if FiiO wants to promote their app (which is decent, needs more work only) some bells and whistles like SMB/NAS source play is a great addition. NASes are all the rage for us stay-at-home-audiophiles

 

[dharmasteve]

RE Whitelisting:

Been fiddling about with some APKs and I can tell that FiiO's right in being .. careful in the whitelisting. Some apps are quite complex and might really bring the performance down (I even have that feeling about ES File Explorer, you know).
VLC is the one which worked quite fine so far, even chromecast did work (not perfectly; the very chromecast implementation is sometimes problematic). It's nice to be able to pick up my files from a NAS/sAmbA share. Hey even the video bit worked (streamed over to a TV with chromecast). But it was choppy if you messed around. This kind of thing will surely work perfectly in the M11, I start to see a market for that device (not only music but also video streaming with HQ). VLC being a free app, helps. BubbleUPNP and YTVanced did work fine in short tests, but again - I would probably not mess much with video, it can be power consuming. BubbleUPNP without a license ain't much of a contender so did not much.

USB Audio Player Pro is a more complex app (with some price) but it seems to do it all, so I agree with others that it would be a nice whitelist if it can run acceptably, no doubt.

Finally if FiiO wants to promote their app (which is decent, needs more work only) some bells and whistles like SMB/NAS source play is a great addition. NASes are all the rage for us stay-at-home-audiophiles

Sorry what are you testing these apps on?
Steve